Foreign Correspondence

[Amaunet]

Here's the Italian election.


Italian candidate angry with U.S.

Posted on Sat, Mar. 25, 2006
OPPONENT DESCRIBES TRAVEL ADVISORY AS FAVOR TO INCUMBENTBy Sarah DelaneyWashington PostROME - Opposition leader Romano Prodi says he got on the phone to the U.S. ambassador right away to demand an explanation: Why did the State Department issue a public announcement advising Americans in Italy to stay away from large crowds because of possible violence?
Tuesday's advisory came in the final weeks of a vitriolic election campaign in which Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, a close U.S. ally, is trailing in the polls. To opposition ears, the U.S. statement seemed to back up Berlusconi's accusations that Prodi's alliance harbors in its ranks leftist fringe groups that resort to violence.
``The U.S. alert surprised me,'' Prodi told reporters here. ``A move like this, with elections nearing, can cause a sense of anguish and fear, and there is no need for that.''
The advisory to travelers and a U.S. decision to allow Berlusconi to address a joint session of Congress in Washington on March 1, a rare honor for a foreign leader, have led to allegations that the United States hopes to help Berlusconi win a new term.
The advisory ``is not political,'' a U.S. Embassy representative said. ``It's not taking sides. It doesn't even have to be necessarily a political protest. We're just urging Americans to be prudent in any public protest situation.'' The announcement cited a March 11 incident in Milan in which youths clashed with riot police, injuring some of them and causing considerable damage to streets, cars and shops.
In a day of bickering over the advisory, Berlusconi criticized Prodi for contacting the ambassador, Ronald Spogli, calling it ``undue interference in American affairs.'' He said the State Department had been justified in issuing the advisory, because ``the United States addresses its citizens, as is its right, warning them that in Italian political demonstrations there are situations that may be dangerous for Americans.''
Prodi accused the Italian government of being behind the State Department announcement. The embassy said it had acted on its own initiative.

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/world/14185148.htm